Graphene has garnered widespread interest for use in a number of applications due to its favorable mechanical and electronic properties. The electrical conductivity of graphene can be influenced by the amount and type of chemical functionalization on the graphene and the quantity of defects in the graphene basal plane. Although pristine graphene typically displays the highest electrical conductivity values, it can sometimes be desirable to tune the electrical conductivity and modify the band structure. Tailoring of the band structure can be accomplished, for example, by introducing a plurality of defects (i.e., holes or perforations) within the graphene basal plane or increasing the number of such defects. The band structure can be influenced by both the size, type, and number of holes present. Applications that have been proposed for graphene include optical devices, mechanical structures, and electronic devices. In addition to the foregoing applications, there has been some interest in perforated graphene for filtration applications, particularly single-layer perforated graphene. Current techniques used to perforate CVD graphene include oxidation processes (e.g., UV ozone, plasma oxidation, and high temperatures), ion beams, template cutting, and direct synthesis using specialized growth substrates.
Other two-dimensional materials, also known as 2D materials, having a thickness of a few nanometers or less and an extended planar lattice, or an extended planar surface if not a lattice, are also of interest for various applications. In an embodiment, a two dimensional material has a thickness of 0.3 to 1.2 nm. In another embodiment, a two dimensional material has a thickness of 0.3 to 3 nm. For example, molybdenum sulfide is a representative chalcogenide having a two-dimensional molecular structure, and other various chalcogenides can constitute the two-dimensional material in the present disclosure. Two-dimensional materials include metal chalogenides (e.g., transition metal dichalogenides), transition metal oxides, hexagonal boron nitride, graphene, silicene and germanene (see: Xu et al. (2013) “Graphene-like Two-Dimensional Materials) Chemical Reviews 113:3766-3798).
In view of the foregoing, techniques that allow pores to be produced in graphene and other two dimensional materials with a desired pore density and pore size would be of considerable benefit in the art. The present disclosure satisfies this need and provides related advantages as well.